Red Bull 'caught out' by 2012 changes

Red Bull has admitted that it took too long to get to grips with the changes in Formula 1 at the start of 2012, as it strives to ensure a stronger start to its title defence this year.

After dominating 2011, Red Bull did not win until round four of last year's world championship in Bahrain.

Eventual three-time champion Sebastian Vettel was as low as sixth in the points at one stage, and by mid-September only had one win to his name.

He then went on a four-race victory streak to set himself up for another title. Prior to that, he had looked hard-pressed to catch Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and also faced times when McLaren looked a stronger contender than Red Bull.

Team boss Christian Horner conceded that it had taken a while for designer Adrian Newey to get to grips with the 2012 rule tweaks and the new Pirelli tyre specification.

"There was a big regulation change where the exhaust effect was reduced dramatically, and that particularly had a significant impact on our car because arguably our use of exhaust gases was more advanced than other teams," Horner said.

"So it took a while to understand that, and that combined with a different tyre took Adrian and his team time to get his head around.